Coop Connections and #RECHAT

All of us here can speak to someone else here who has made a difference in our lives, I think. That goes for everyone–readers, writers, thinkers, all….This is a great place to share, to learn to think together and grow as catalysts for each other and others not here.

John T Spencer is one of those people for me…so much of what he writes is simply astounding and astute…and as he works to rethink education, he involves people in as many ways as he can. Last Saturday I discovered the Twitter chat he began, called #rechat–a chat to “rethink, reflect and reimagine education.”He made an open call at the end for people who wanted to help moderate and I volunteered.

This morning we did that together, and had quite a “hopping conversation” as someone called it. The topic was play and its role in school, although the conversation really delved more into the value of play and what it does for people, I think. However, we talked briefly about what we observe and what we can learn about a kid when watching one play, and several folks said that others don’t see the value of play or that observing.

So I asked people to think about blogging about an observation they make when kids in their room are playing, so that we can all share the kinds of things we see and look for as we watch. We’ll collect the links here in one place so that we can all learn from one another. Please join us by blogging your own observations, and keep an eye out as we gather those links so you can read along!

Great idea! Last year I introduced my kids to Caine’s Arcade at the same time that we instituted a Friday Explore Time (their choice for a name) and loosely modeled on the Plan, Do, and Review component of the High Scope Curriculum. I noticed many things as I walked around the room though I didn’t record any of my observations. For example, I noticed how much math was happening when kids were building and constructing play areas. I noticed how some kids worked alone and some kids worked in small groups or pairs. This last observation cemented for me what I learned from observing my students years ago: kids don’t have to work in pairs or small groups all the time. They should have the choice to work alone if they wish to do so. There will be plenty of other opportunities for me as a teacher to pair up kids for social purposes later on. Just some random thoughts. Next time, I will make sure to record what I see.